Tube having an access door for a rigid inflatable boat

ABSTRACT

An inflatable tube having an inflatable access door for a rigid inflatable boat, the inflatable door and the boat so equipped. The tube is attachable to at least a portion of a perimeter of a rigid hull of the rigid inflatable boat. The inflatable tube comprises a first chamber, the inflatable door having an air inlet for inflating or deflating it, a second chamber and an attachment strip. The first chamber, the door and the second chamber are sequentially connected to the attachment strip so that the door is placed between the first chamber and the second chamber. The door is operative to cycle between an open position where the door is deflated to provide a passage between the first chamber and the second chamber and a closed position where the door is inflated.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to the field of inflatable boats. More specifically, the invention relates to a tube for a rigid inflatable boat, the tube having an inflatable access door.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight, high performance and high capacity boat that uses a solid, shaped hull and flexible inflatable tubes at its gunwale. The inflatable tubes allow the vessel to maintain buoyancy even if a large quantity of water flows aboard.

Because of its inherent stability and seaworthiness, the use of rigid inflatable boats is widely spread among divers and rescuers alike, who share a common need: to be able to easily and conveniently get in and out of the boat. For divers, this need concerns mostly themselves. However, for rescuers, this need concerns both themselves and also an endangered person who needs to be rescued from the waters.

Many solutions have been proposed to meet such a need. U.S. Pat. No. 8,832,864 describes a rigid-inflatable boat where the inflatable tube comprises a removable portion, which acts as a door. Although this solution provides a convenient opening on the side of the boat, removal and manipulation of the door is rather cumbersome. Moreover, should a rescue operation take place in rough waters, the removed portion could be lost at sea.

There is therefore a clear need for a tube having an improved access door for a rigid inflatable boat and for a boat using such an improvement.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a tube for a rigid inflatable boat that overcomes or mitigates one or more disadvantages of known tubes for rigid inflatable boats, or at least provides a useful alternative.

The invention provides the advantages of providing easy and quick access to the rigid inflatable boat without cumbersome manipulations.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an inflatable door for a rigid inflatable boat having a rigid hull and an inflatable tube on at least a portion of a perimeter of the hull. The tube is equipped with a tube attachment strip to attach the tube to the hull. The door comprises an inflatable chamber, an air inlet connected to the chamber for inflating and deflating it and a door attachment strip attached to the chamber. The door attachment strip is adapted to being attached to the hull. The chamber is operative to cycle between an open position where it is deflated, to a closed position where it is inflated. Optionally, the door attachment strip may be a portion of the tube attachment strip.

In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an inflatable tube attachable to at least a portion of a perimeter of a rigid hull of a rigid inflatable boat. The inflatable tube comprises a first chamber, an inflatable door having an air inlet for inflating or deflating it, a second chamber and an attachment strip. The first chamber, the door and the second chamber are sequentially connected to the attachment strip so that the door is placed between the first chamber and the second chamber. The door is operative to cycle between an open position where the door is deflated to provide a passage between the first chamber and the second chamber and a closed position where the door is inflated.

In accordance with yet another embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a rigid inflatable boat. The rigid inflatable boat comprises a rigid hull and an inflatable tube. The inflatable tube comprises a first chamber, an inflatable door having a air inlet for inflating or deflating it, a second chamber and an attachment strip. The attachment strip is attached to at least a portion of a perimeter of the hull. The first chamber, the door and the second chamber are sequentially connected to the attachment strip so that the door is placed between the first chamber and the second chamber. The door is operative to cycle between an open position where it is deflated to provide a passage between the first chamber and the second chamber and a closed position where the door is inflated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

These and other features of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is an axonometric view of a rigid inflatable boat having an inflatable access door in the open position in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an axonometric view of the rigid inflatable boat of FIG. 1 having the inflatable access door in the closed position;

FIG. 3 is an axonometric view of a portion of a hull and tube of the boat of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an axonometric view of a portion of a hull and tube of a boat equipped with an inflatable access door in the closed position in accordance with another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an access door for use on a rigid inflatable boat having a rigid hull and an inflatable tube on at least a portion of the hull's perimeter. The door may be used either to rescue an endangered person in water, or to allow divers to easily dive in water. The door is a chamber of the inflatable tube that may be inflated or deflated to open or close access.

Reference is now concurrently made to FIGS. 1 and 2, which depict a rigid inflatable boat 10 having a rigid hull 12 and an inflatable tube 14 attached to at least a portion of a perimeter of the hull 12 and to FIG. 3, which depict a detail of the tube 14. The tube 14 is made of a first chamber 16, a second chamber 18, and an inflatable door 20 located in between. The first chamber 16, the door 20 and the second chamber 18 are sequentially connected by vulcanization to an attachment strip 26. Hence, these four elements form a single component which is the tube 14. Because these four elements of the tube 14 are vulcanized to one another and form a unitary component, the tube is advantageously easier to assemble in a rail 28 of the hull 12. Moreover, because the door 20 is an integral part of the tube 14, it can not be detached from the tube 14 and lost at sea in use.

The door 20 may be considered like another air chamber of the tube 14 equipped with its own air inlet 22, which may be a valve, for selectively inflating or deflating the door 20. Indeed, when the door 20 is deflated, as shown in FIG. 1, it creates a passage 24 which allows either rescuing an endangered person in water by pulling her out of the water through the passage 24 or allows a diver in the boat 10 to step in water through the same passage 24. On the other hand, when the door is inflated, as shown in FIG. 2, the passage 24 is then closed and the tube 14 behaves basically like a standard tube without a door.

The first chamber 16 and the second chamber 18 of the tube 14 may either be inflatable, be filled with foam or be inflatable while using a foam core inside, as is often the case with military boats. If of the inflatable type, the chambers may either be fluidly independent or be in fluid communication through a small hose for example. This small hose may be equipped with a valve, such as a check valve for example. The tube 14 may be made of PVC, Hypalon® or any other suitable material.

FIG. 4 is now concurrently referred to. The tube 14 is attached to the hull 12 through the attachment strips 26 which are slid in the extrusion rails 28. The rails 28 run along at least a portion of the perimeter of hull 12 (normally, the tube 14 is attached along the whole perimeter of the hull except at the stern. The attachment strips 26 run all along the tube 14 and sequentially join the first chamber 16, the door 20 and the second chamber 18 so that the door 20 is located between the first chamber 16 and the second chamber 18. It may be observed in FIG. 3 that the door 20 is in its open position, its air chamber being deflated while FIG. 4 depicts the door 20 in its closed position, its air chamber being fully inflated.

The first and the second chambers 16, 18 may each be equipped with hoop flanges 30 partially extending over the door 20. The hoop flanges 30 prevent the door 20 from moving radially when the door 20 is inflated. The hoop flanges 30 may either be added to the perimeter of each of the first and second chambers 16, 18, as shown in FIG. 3, or they may be extensions of an outer shell 32 of the first and second chambers 16, 18, as shown in FIG. 4. This is merely a question of preference although in the latter case (FIG. 4), less assembly is required and the intersection at the hoop flange 30/attachment strips 26 is easier to manufacture. To this extend, it is worth noting that where the hoop flanges 30 are added pieces to the first and second chambers 16, 18, such as in FIG. 3, the hoop flanges 30 may be interrupted by the attaching strips 26 (FIG. 3 shows the attaching strips being partially interrupted by the hoop flanges 30, but the reverse is also possible). In the case of the construction depicted in FIG. 3, where the hoop flanges 30 are extensions of the outer shells 32 of the first and second chambers 16, 18, it may be preferable to have the outside diameter of the door 20 correspond to the inner diameter of the hoop flanges 30 so as to ensure that the door 20 tightly fits against the hoop flanges 30 while not overstressing them to the point where they would rupture. The fit between the door 20 and the hoop flanges 30 is important as it does not merely ensures proper location of the door 20 (although this is also ensured by the attachment strips 26), but it most importantly ensures that water will not infiltrate inside the boat 10.

The present invention has been described with regard to preferred embodiments. The description as much as the drawings were intended to help the understanding of the invention, rather than to limit its scope. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that various modifications may be made to the invention without departing from the scope of the invention as described herein, and such modifications are intended to be covered by the present description. The invention is defined by the claims that follow. 

1. A door for a rigid inflatable boat having a rigid hull and an inflatable tube on at least a portion of a perimeter of the hull, the tube being equipped with a tube attachment strip to attach the tube to the hull, said door comprising: an inflatable chamber; an air inlet connected to said chamber for inflating and deflating said chamber; and a door attachment strip, said door attachment strip being attached to said chamber, wherein said door attachment strip is adapted to being attached to the hull, said chamber being operative to cycle between an open position where said chamber is deflated to a closed position where said chamber is inflated.
 2. The door of claim 1 wherein said door attachment strip is a portion of the tube attachment strip.
 3. An inflatable tube attachable to at least a portion of a perimeter of a rigid hull of a rigid inflatable boat, the inflatable tube comprising: a first chamber; an inflatable door having an air inlet for inflating or deflating said door; a second chamber; and an attachment strip, wherein said first chamber, said door and said second chamber are sequentially connected to said attachment strip so that said door is placed between said first chamber and said second chamber, said door being operative to cycle between an open position where said door is deflated to provide a passage between said first chamber and said second chamber and a closed position where said door is inflated.
 4. The tube of claim 3 further comprising a first hoop flange on said first chamber and a second hoop flange on said second chamber, said first and said second hoop flanges partially extending over said door so that said door is prevented from substantially moving radially by said first and said second hoop flanges when said door is inflated.
 5. The tube of claim 4 wherein said door tightly fits against said first and said second hoop flanges when said door is inflated.
 6. The tube of claim 4 further comprising a second inflatable door.
 7. The tube of claim 3 wherein said first chamber and said second chamber are inflatable.
 8. The tube of claim 3 wherein said first chamber and said second chamber are filled with foam.
 9. The tube of claim 3 wherein said first chamber, said door and said second chamber are made of Hypalon®.
 10. A rigid inflatable boat comprising: a rigid hull having a perimeter; and an inflatable tube having: a first chamber; an inflatable door having a air inlet for inflating or deflating said door; a second chamber; and an attachment strip, said attachment strip being attached to at least a portion of a perimeter of said hull, wherein said first chamber, said door and said second chamber are sequentially connected to said attachment strip so that said door is placed between said first chamber and said second chamber, said door being operative to cycle between an open position where said door is deflated to provide a passage between said first chamber and said second chamber and a closed position where said door is inflated.
 11. The boat of claim 10 further comprising a first hoop flange on said first chamber and a second hoop flange on said second chamber, said first and said second hoop flanges partially extending over said door so that said door is restricted from moving radially by said first and said second hoop flanges when said door is inflated.
 12. The boat of claim 11 wherein said door tightly fits against said first and said second hoop flanges when said door is inflated.
 13. The boat of claim 11 wherein said tube further comprises a second inflatable door.
 14. The boat of claim 10 wherein said first chamber and said second chamber are inflatable.
 15. The boat of claim 10 wherein said first chamber and said second chamber are filled with foam.
 16. The boat of claim 10 wherein said inflatable tube is made of Hypalon®. 